Temple-wire for spectacle frames and mountings.



. TNEESESI N0; 824,832.- PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

L. J. TELLER.

TEMPLE WIRE FOR SPEOTAOLE FRAME$ AND MOUNTINGS.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1905.

FILE/U. F/En/E.

-/NVENTDE,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS J. TELLER, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES A. l/VILKINSON, OF l/VARWICK, RHODE ISLAND, AND DUTEE WVILCOX, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, OOPART- NERS TRADING AS 0. A. WILKINSON & COMPANY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed December 22, 1905. Serial No. 292,977.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lorns J. TELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Temple-Wires for Spectacle Frames and Mountings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the templewires of spectacle-frames; and it consists in providing a gold-plated temple-wire with an integral gold-plated ti or knob. It is also applicable to other go d-plated wires having a head or enlargement upon the end thereof.

In the manufacture of a solid-gold temple- Wire the rounded tip upon its end has been made by blowing or otherwise forming a a ball or knob on said end; but in the manufacture of gold-plated temple-wires having such tip it is impossible to use such a process, because it is necessary that the entire surface shall be of gold, and consequently the base metal of such a composite wire must be disposed of in some manner so that it shall occupy only an interior position and be wholly concealed. It has therefore been common in making such a temple-wire of gold-plated stock to form the temple-wire itself of a cylindrical gold-plated wire to constitute one piece and to make a goldplated ball or knob to constitute another piece and to form in such ball or knob an orifice or socket into which one end of said temple-wire is inserted and there united to it by solder, swaging, or in some other suitable manner. The objection to such headed temple-wires made of gold-plated stock are the increased cost of their manufacture and the liability of such balls or knobs to work loose or even to drop off.

It is the purpose of my invention to make a' headed temple-Wire of a single piece of gold-plated stock in such manner that all its exposed surfaces are gold and its basemetal ortion is wholly concealed. The

ball or nob being integral with the temple-.

wire is of course not separable therefrom.

' manufacture.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows in elevation the wire blank from which my improved temple-wire is made. Fig. 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, a cross-section of said wire blank as seen in section on line a: 00 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of my said temple-wire as seen in elevation on an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 3, except that the headed end of the temple-wire is shown in central longitudinal section. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a plunger used in the manufacture of my temple-wire. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are much enlarged views of the headed end of the temple-wire as seen in central longitudinal section at different stages of its Figs. 9, 1O, 11, and 12 are views of the pair of hammer-dies used in said manufacture, Figs. 9 and 10 showing the lower die and Figs. 11 and 12 showing the upper die. Figs. 9 and 11 are plan views, and Figs. 10 and 12 are views in side elevation.

The piece of gold-plated stock from which I make my improved headed temple-wire is in the form of a cylindrical wire A, havinga seamless gold shell or tube a and a cylindrical core of base metal I), the two being united and soldered together in the manner well known in the manufacture of seamless old-plated Wire. Upon one end of this wire A is formed an integral ball or head B, constituting the tip of the completed temple-wire, as shown in Fig. 2, the entire surface of said ball or knob being formed of gold. In Fig. 3 is shown in central longitudinal section the the tip end of my improved temple-wire, which is a new article of manufacture, having an interior base-metal portion 6 and an eX- terior spherical surface a In the manufacture of my improved temle-wire I first insert an end of the wire blank A through a round hole or aperture in a die in a dro ress and by means of a plunger operated 8y said drop-press form n on the protruding portion of the Wire bFank a cylindrical head 0, having a diameter somewhat larger than the diameter of the wire A with an intermediate circumfertial shoulder a, as seen in Fig. 6, in central ongitudinal section, the gold plate being represented at a and the base-metal portion at b.

In the next operation I use in a drop-press a plunger D, (shown in Fig. 5,) whose operative end 61 is' cylindrical and of a diameter slightly less than that of the cylindrical head C. By operation of this plunger D a tubular recess 6 is formed in the upper end of the head 0, and the head 0 is made considerably shorter and of correspondingly-increased diameter, as seen at E in Fig. 7. By these operations the base-metal portions 72 are much compacted and made to occupy a smaller space, and the base-metal portion 6 of the wire below the head E is also somewhat compacted, and an annular flange a is formed on the upper end of the head E, which is wholly of gold or may be left with some of the base metal adhering to its inner side.

In the next operation I use matched hammer-dies F G. The bottom die F has the stem H and the guide-plate I, the latter being held in position upon the die F by the screws f. The plate I slightly projects above the upper surface of the die F and has the guideslot 9 through it. The die F has upon its upper side a matrix h of the shape shown in Fig. 9. It also has the two holes i i. The upper die G has the stem J and the two dowel-pins j j, the latter loosely fitting in the holes ii of the die F and having-the function of accurately centering the dies F G when they come into operative contact. The upper die G has on its under side the matrix j, which matches with the matrix h of the die F.

The recessed headed wire (seen in Fig. 7) is placed between the dies F G, thecylindrical wire portion extending through the guideslot g and along the straight portion of the matrices h and j and the enlarged recessed head E occupying the rounded inner portions of the matrices h and 7'. By the repeated blows of the hammer-dies F and G the inserted end of the blank is swaged into the shape illustrated in Fig. 8, where it is seen that the gold flange a of the head E, Fig. 7,

is bent and crimped into a convex form, and a spherical head B is thus produced on the wire A, having an interior base-metal por tion and an exterior gold surface. The gold flange a is somewhat stretched by this swaging or hammering operation and being ductile readily conforms to the matrices h j and closes together and is so compacted together that the superficies of said ball or knob con sists of gold throughout its entire extent and is able to withstand acid tests.

It is obvious that instead of making the tip of the temple-wire spherical it may be pear-shaped or of any other desired form.

In the accompanying drawings the several eaasea figures are not drawn on the same scale, Figs. 1, 3, and 4c are on the same scale, but necessarily much enlarged. Figs. 6 and 7 are on the same scale with each other, though greatly enlarged. Fig. 8 is on still another scale, and Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are on yet another scale, corresponding, however, to each other, while Fig. 2 is on still another scale; but the foregoing description of the improved temple-wire and its method of manufacture, it is believed, is clearly illustrated by the drawings.

I claim as a novel and useful invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The improved temple-wire herein described having the cylindrical stem portion A and the integral ball or tip B on one end thereof, all made of a compound stock consisting of a gold plate soldered on base metal, which temple-wire is so constructed that its exterior portion consists of said gold plate and the interior portion consists of said base metal, substantially as specified.

2. The improved blank for forming a balltipped temple-wire, herein described, consisting of the seamless gold-plated wire A having the base-metal core I), the cylindrical enlargement or head E consisting of the basemetal core 6 and a tubular covering of gold and provided with a concentric recess e in the end thereof, the annular flange a surrounding said recess consisting of a tubular covering of gold which is an extension of the tubular covering of the enlargement E and also of a base-metal lining, and an annular shoulder having an exterior surface of gold and extending between the wire A and the head E, saidbase-metal portions all being integral and said gold portions all being integral and with the gold portions soldered to the base-metal portions respectively.

3. The improved temple-wire herein described, consisting of the cylindrical seamless gold-plated wire A having the basemetal core b and the globular head B at one end of said wire A and integral therewith, which head B consists of an exterior spherical shell of gold united to a central mass of compressed base metal, the outer portion of which head is formed of an inwardly-bent crimped flange of gold lined with base-metal and swaged smoothly into a solid sphere, all the base-metal portion being integral and all the gold portion being integral and with the gold portions united by solder to the base metal portions respectively.

4. The improved temple-wire herein described, consisting of the cylindrical seamless gold-plated wire A having the base-metal core 6*, and the globular head B at one end of said wire A and integral therewith, which head B consists of an exterior spherical shell of gold united to a central spherical mass of flange, being soldered to the base-metal porcompressed base metal, the outer extremity tions respectively. 10 of which shell is an inwardly-bent crimped In testimony whereof I affix my signature flange of gold swaged smoothly to a closure in presence of two Witnesses.

upon said spherical central mass of base LOUIS J. TELLER.

. metal, all said gold portions being integral Witnesses:

and all said base-metal portion being integral WARREN R. PERoE, and said gold portions, except said crimped ANNIE E. PERoE. 

